LAKEWOOD — Niwot’s girls track dynasty is chugging along at an infinite pace.

The Cougars cruised to another Class 4A title on Saturday, the team’s eighth championship since 2013 and fifth straight. As has been the case in recent years, Niwot’s triumph was never in question. The ultra-loaded Cougars finished with 158 points for a 98-point margin of victory over runner-up Windsor.

In the process, Niwot claimed five individual titles and three relay titles. Sophomore sensation Addison Ritzenhein won the 1,600 and 3,200 meters, junior Reese Kasper won the 300-meter hurdles, junior Jade West claimed the discus and shot put, and the Cougars also posted wins in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 relays.

“Our strength has been versatility,” 14th-year Niwot coach Maurice Henriques said. “We’ve been strong in sprints and we’ve been strong in the relays, in hurdles, in the jumps. We’ve been able to compete across the board, and things we’ve been improving on is something like the throws, where Jade West has been big for us. That’s allowed our margin (of victory) to increase over the years, because our first state title came from just 70 points.”

The Cougars’ theme for this season has been “encourage,” and they had something extra to compete for at Jeffco Stadium. Niwot assistant coach Craig Sherman has been battling cancer, and Ritzenhein said “it’s been very tough for us to see him go through that.”

“We all take the hit emotionally from that,” Ritzenhein said. “But our big thing for this state meet was to run for him, because he’s such a loving and supporting coach.”

Niwot will be moving up to Class 5A in track and field in 2026, so next year will be the final season the Cougar girls are a heavy favorite in 4A. But even when they are competing in the state’s highest classification, based off Niwot’s current talent, they will still be a title contender.

“We’ve got a lot of talented freshmen this year, and a bunch of returners overall,” Reese Kasper said. “This is going to keep going.”

Rock Canyon makes history.In a close race for the 5A girls title, the Jaguars’ 71 points bested Fossil Ridge (62.5 points) and Mountain Vista (58) to win Rock Canyon’s first track and field title in school history.

The title feat for Rock Canyon, which was coming off its first Continental League title, was highlighted by junior Petra McGowan’s high jump gold as well as a win in the 800-meter sprint medley relay. The Jaguars’ previous best team finish was fifth in 2018.

“Our numbers aren’t real big (with 12 qualifiers) but we have really quality depth,” 21st-year Rock Canyon coach Dan Davies said. “I told all our sprinters and jumpers to be ready for three, four events a day and they were bought in. We knew we didn’t have a single (mega-scorer) but that we could cover just about every event, and that if we kept nickel and diming it (with points), then we’d give ourselves a chance.”

Senior Megan Witkiewicz, a Wyoming commit, said the Jaguars’ belief in making school history began before the season.

“This is surreal,” Witkiewicz said after Rock Canyon all but cemented the title with a second-place finish in the 400-meter relay on Saturday. “We’ve been talking about this since our first meeting right before the season started, and today we finished it.”

Powe gets redemption.Cherokee Trail junior Kaeli Powe finally finished atop the podium in the Class 5A triple jump after placing second the two years prior.

Powe’s self-described “comeback year” was rooted in her offseason training regimen, when she dedicated herself to an intense weight-lifting regimen as well as running hills at a local park every Saturday morning.

“Those hills were terrible and they sucked, but it’s helped me get stronger and it’s why I am here today as a champion,” Powe said. “The last two years, me and Jeffco (Stadium) were not friends. But this weekend, I feel like I performed to the best of my ability and didn’t leave anything out there.”

Powe jumped 40 feet, 6.25 inches to win the triple jump title on Saturday, beating Eaglecrest freshman Zenobia Witt, who had 38-2. Witt trumped Powe in the long jump on Thursday, though, 19-9.5 to 19-8. The two club teammates are anticipating more duels in both events extending into 2025.

While Powe also placed third in the 100-meter hurdles, Witt made a statement with her speed as the anchor on Eaglecrest’s 400-meter and 800-meter relay teams that both took first.

“I think I put my name out there today, like I’m a big deal and someone to watch going forward,” Witt said.

Omofoma goes to 11:When all is said and done, Dayspring Christian senior Eboselulu Omofoma will miss the camaraderie of high school track and field.

Before she lined up for the 2A 100 hurdles to compete for her 10th career state title, she spoke to some of her competitors. She had heard from somewhere the other girls can be mean before the gun goes off, but it has been quite the opposite in Omofoma’s experience.

“Every time I’ve run against these people, they are so kind,” Omofoma said. “It definitely helps ease the nerves. You always run a better race when you’re happy, not angry.

“We just say, ‘Good job,’ talk about our times. If we’re in the tent, it really could be anything.”

Running with minimal nerves, she saved her best hurdles performance for last. She’s now won state titles in the event in all four of her years, but she now holds the 2A girls meet record of 14.24 seconds. That was nearly a full second faster than second place.

Later on, she dominated the triple jump with a mark of 35-11.75, more than nine inches further than second place.

It was her 11th total title.